Barab and Plucker (2002) and Barab and Roth (2006), building on Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model (Renzulli, 1977; Renzulli & Reis, 1997), highlight the importance of a learning environment with rich contextual details and real-world problems to challenge all students.
Between 2018-2022, we initiated and coordinated the ‘Leiden Museum Debate’ project within ‘De Leidse Aanpak,’ a talent network (Van Tricht). With a grant, we brought together three primary, three secondary schools, and six Leiden museums in a professional learning community. We experimented with object learning and debating methodologies. The museum as a learning context allowed for deeper exploration of ethical dimensions, grand ideas, transformations over time, opposing perspectives, and interdisciplinary connections (Kaplan, 2009).
The website showcasing our work was recognised by Oleksiy Karamanov in his dissertation on museum pedagogy in regular education. According to Karamanov (2023), the museum nurtures personality by adapting to the cultural environment. Art and culture influence our identity and consciousness, offering psychological protection (Karamanov, Sheffield presentation, June 17, 2023). Language is crucial in learning and mediating content within a socio-cultural context.
In keynote speeches, the ‘4Cs Content and Language Integrated Learning Framework’ (CLIL) (Coyle, 2008) connects content, communication, cognition, and intercultural understanding to maximise learning potential. Focus now extends to multi-lingualism, multiculturalism, identity, interdisciplinary learning using technology, a 4-D model for deeper learning, and discourse-rich classrooms (Marope et al., 2017, 2017a, b, c).
García (2009) and Wei (2018) define ‘translanguaging’ as the fluid use of multiple languages in communication, bringing transformative changes. Transpositioning (Bernstein, 1971) involves transferring language and knowledge between contexts, adapting to new rules and norms. Transmodalities, as discussed by Kress (2010), refer to using various communication forms to convey meaning, such as language and images.
Language and culture education go beyond grammar rules and vocabulary. It involves exploring identity and meaning-making in the real world, challenging traditional roles, fostering critical thinking, and recognising the incompleteness of knowledge. Creating dynamic cultural and literary contexts aligns with the learning of gifted students.
Additionally, the concept of a pedagogy of vulnerability (Brantmeier, 2013) further emphasises the importance of respecting others, dismantling power imbalances, and engaging in contextual learning.
Richer and dynamic cultural and literary contexts foster deeper and more complex thinking processes and interactions between language, performance, space, and objects, which aligns with the learning needs of gifted students. By creating learning environments with sufficient contextual details and real-world challenges, all students, including those with high intellectual abilities, can be provided with ample learning opportunities.
Educators play a pivotal role in designing and facilitating such culturally enriching and intellectually stimulating environments, allowing gifted students to thrive and explore their potential to the fullest. A commitment to integrating cultural contexts and relevant world issues within language and culture education can lead to transformative learning experiences that nurture the development of students’ identities and expand their understanding of the world.
The Dutch language and culture curriculum is now renewing itself by integrating cultural contexts as the International Baccalaureate and Bilingual Education did earlier (Maurette, 1948): seven ‘concepts’ of Communication, Representation, Culture, Identity, Perspective, Creativity, and Transformation connected to three ‘areas of exploration’ as reading approaches, non-fiction and fiction: a. Readers, writers, and texts, b. Time and Space, c. Intertextuality: connecting texts. The concepts address current ‘global issues’.
The fluid cultural and literary context can be healing for individuals with gifted characteristics, as it allows them to express imagination, subtlety, creativity, and a deep sense of justice (Dąbrowski, 1977; Piechowksi, 2009), possibly preventing feelings of frustration with the status quo. By critically examining cultural power dynamics and deconstructing hierarchical micro, meso, and macro structures in language classes, students and teachers can embrace diverse perspectives and learn to suspend judgment in a “spirit of dialogue, [and] the ability to hold many points of view in suspension, along with a primary interest in the creation of common meaning” (Bohm, 1987).
Classrooms can become dynamic cultural and literary contexts and powerful means to connect students’ out-of-school experiences with their classroom learning, where teachers, with developed spatial awareness, can shape the space (within, outside, and beyond physical boundaries) as an inspiring factor for academic performance and students’ self-esteem. In the broader school context of cultural and literary learning experiences, rhizomatic learning fits well: “the rhizome pertains to a map that must be produced, constructed, a map that is always detachable, connectible, reversible, modifiable, and has multiple entryways and exits and its own lines of flight” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, 21).
A teacher can provide prompts on reallife issues in context when creating or analysing a literary extract:
- Social Justice – How does the literary extract address issues of social justice, such as inequality or discrimination, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life social justice issues?
- Environmentalism – How does the literary extract address environmental issues, such as climate change or conservation, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life environmental concerns?
- Mental Health – How does the literary extract address issues related to mental health, such as depression or anxiety, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life mental health concerns?
- Human Rights – How does the literary extract address issues related to human rights, such as freedom of speech or freedom of religion, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life human rights concerns?
- Politics – How does the literary extract address political issues, such as government corruption or political unrest, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life political concerns?
- Immigration – How does the literary extract address issues related to immigration, such as border control or refugee policies, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life immigration concerns?
- Racism – How does the literary extract address issues related to racism, such as prejudice or systemic oppression, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life racial inequality concerns?
- Gender Equality – How does the literary extract address issues related to gender equality, such as sexism or gender roles, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life gender equality concerns?
- Education – How does the literary extract address issues related to education, such as access or quality of education, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life education concerns?
- Healthcare – How does the literary extract address issues related to healthcare, such as access or quality of care, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life healthcare concerns?
- Animal Rights – How does the literary extract address issues related to animal rights, such as animal cruelty or animal testing, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life animal rights concerns?
- Privacy – How does the literary extract address issues related to privacy, such as surveillance or data protection, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life privacy concerns?
- Technology – How does the literary extract address issues related to technology, such as automation or artificial intelligence, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life technology concerns?
- Wealth Inequality – How does the literary extract address issues related to wealth inequality, such as poverty or income disparity, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life wealth inequality concerns?
- Corruption – How does the literary extract address issues related to corruption, such as bribery or nepotism, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life corruption concerns?
- Globalisation – How does the literary extract address issues related to globalisation, such as cultural imperialism or economic inequality, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life globalisation concerns?
- War – How does the literary extract address issues related to war, such as the human cost or the justification for conflict, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life war concerns?
- Social Media – How does the literary extract address issues related to social media, such as cyberbullying or the spread of misinformation, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life social media concerns?
- Addiction – How does the literary extract address issues related to addiction, such as substance abuse or behavioral addiction, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life addiction concerns?
- Death and Dying – How does the literary extract address issues related to death and dying, such as grief or euthanasia, and what message does it convey about these issues? How can this message be applied to real-life death and dying concerns?
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